Method and system for indicating method used to scramble dedicated reference signals

ABSTRACT

A base station includes a transmit path circuitry to scramble CRC bits of a DCI format using a C-RNTI for dynamic scheduling, and scramble the CRC bits of the DCI format using an SPS C-RNTI for semi-persistent scheduling. If C-RNTI is used, the circuitry generates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being a fallback format to indicate a transmit diversity transmission scheme or a single-layer beamforming scheme, and uses the DCI format being a dual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme. If SPS C-RNTI is used, the circuitry generates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being the fallback format to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, and uses the DCI format being the dual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is related to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/268,950, filed Jun. 18, 2009, entitled “SIGNALING FORMULTI-USER MIMO TRANSMISSIONS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS”.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/268,950 is assigned to theassignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated byreference into the present application as if fully set forth herein. Thepresent application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/268,950.

The present application also is related to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/269,886, filed Jun. 30, 2009, entitled “SIGNALINGMETHODS FOR MULTI-USER MIMO TRANSMISSIONS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEMS”. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/269,886 is assigned tothe assignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated byreference into the present application as if fully set forth herein. Thepresent application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/269,886.

The present application further is related to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/273,646, filed Aug. 6, 2009, entitled “METHODS OFMULTI-USER MIMO TRANSMISSIONS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS”.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/273,646 is assigned to theassignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated byreference into the present application as if fully set forth herein. Thepresent application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/273,646.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates generally to wireless communicationsand, more specifically, to a method and system for indicating the methodused to scramble dedicated reference signals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE),Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is adopted as adownlink (DL) transmission scheme.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A base station is provided. The base station comprising a transmit pathcircuitry configured to scramble cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of adownlink control information (DCI) format using a cell radio networktemporary identifier (C-RNTI) for dynamic scheduling, and scramble theCRC bits of the DCI format using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)C-RNTI for semi-persistent scheduling.

If C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the transmit path circuitrygenerates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being afallback format to indicate a transmit diversity transmission scheme ora single-layer beamforming scheme, and transmits the downlinktransmission grant in a common or user equipment-specific search spaceof a control channel (CCE) domain. The transmit path circuitry alsogenerates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being adual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-dedicated referencesignal (DRS) port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmissionscheme, and transmits the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain.

If SPS C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the transmit pathcircuitry generates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI formatbeing the fallback format to indicate a single-DRS port transmissionscheme, and transmits the downlink transmission grant in a common oruser equipment-specific search space of the CCE domain. The transmitpath circuitry generates a downlink transmission grant using the DCIformat being the dual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRSport transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmits the downlink transmission grant in a user equipment-specificsearch space of the CCE domain.

A method of operating a base station is provided. The method comprisingscrambling cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format using a cell radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI) for dynamic scheduling, and scrambling the CRC bits of the DCIformat using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI forsemi-persistent scheduling.

If C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the method includesgenerating a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being afallback format to indicate a transmit diversity transmission scheme ora single-layer beamforming scheme, and transmitting the downlinktransmission grant in a common or user equipment-specific search spaceof a control channel (CCE) domain. The method also includes generating adownlink transmission grant using the DCI format being a dual-layerbeamforming format to indicate a dual-dedicated reference signal (DRS)port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain.

If SPS C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the method includesgenerating a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being thefallback format to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a common or userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain. The method alsoincludes generating a downlink transmission grant using the DCI formatbeing the dual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRS porttransmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain.

A subscriber station is provided. The subscriber station comprising areceive path circuitry configured to receive a downlink transmissiongrant from a base station. The receive path circuitry is also configuredto de-scramble cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of the downlinktransmission grant using a cell radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI) key, and de-scramble the CRC bits of the downlink transmissiongrant using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key.

If the C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, the receivepath circuitry is configured to determine if the downlink transmissiongrant utilizes a downlink control information (DCI) format being afallback format or a dual-layer beamforming format. If the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, thereceive path circuitry is further configured to determine that atransmit diversity transmission scheme or a single-layer beamformingscheme is used by the base station. If the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the dual-layer beamforming format, thereceive path circuitry is further configured to determine that adual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmission scheme or asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station.

If the SPS C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, thereceive path circuitry is configured to determine if the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the fallback format orthe dual-layer beamforming format. If the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, the receive pathcircuitry is further configured to determine that a single-DRS porttransmission scheme is used by the base station. If the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the dual-layerbeamforming format, the receive path circuitry is further configured todetermine that a dual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS porttransmission scheme is used by the base station.

A method of operating a subscriber station. The method comprisesreceiving a downlink transmission grant from a base station. The methodalso includes de-scrambling cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of thedownlink transmission grant using a cell radio network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI) key, and de-scrambling the CRC bits of the downlinktransmission grant using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key.

If the C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, the methodincludes determining if the downlink transmission grant utilizes adownlink control information (DCI) format being a fallback format or adual-layer beamforming format. If the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, the method furtherincludes determining that a transmit diversity transmission scheme or asingle-layer beamforming scheme is used by the base station. If thedownlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the dual-layerbeamforming format, the method further includes determining that adual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmission scheme or asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station.

If the SPS C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, the methodincludes determining if the downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCIformat being the fallback format or the dual-layer beamforming format.If the downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thefallback format, the method further includes determining that asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station. If thedownlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the dual-layerbeamforming format, the method further includes determining that adual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmissionscheme is used by the base station.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and theterm “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controlsat least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware,firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same.It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particularcontroller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally orremotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are providedthroughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the artshould understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitionsapply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words andphrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network that transmits messagesin the uplink according to the principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) transmitter according to one embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a high-level diagram of an OFDMA receiver according to oneembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of a base station in communication with aplurality of mobile stations according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a spatial division multiple access (SDMA) schemeaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates reference signal patterns according to an embodimentof this disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates data sections and reference signal sections of areference pattern from the perspective of two user equipments accordingto an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates data sections and reference signal sections of areference pattern from the perspective of two user equipments accordingto another embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a system for generating and mapping reference signalsequences according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 10A illustrates a table summarizing downlink control information(DCI) formats used for downlink (DL) grants according to an embodimentof this disclosure;

FIG. 10B illustrates a method of operating a base station according toan embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 10C illustrates a method of operating a subscriber stationaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a table showing a mapping of enabled codewords to astream index and a dedicated reference signal (DRS) index according toan embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates a table showing a mapping of a new data indicator(NDI) bit of a disabled codeword to a stream index and a dedicatedreference signal (DRS) index according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates a method of operating a base station or eNodeBaccording to another embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates a method of operating a subscriber station accordingto another embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates a table depicting two states of a downlink (DL)grant according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates a table depicting two states of a downlink (DL)grant using a one-bit field according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates a table depicting use of the number of enabledtransport blocks (TBs) to indicate the choice of cell-specificscrambling or UE-specific scrambling according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates a table depicting use of an existing bit in aparticular downlink (DL) grant to indicate the choice of cell-specificscrambling or UE-specific scrambling according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates a method of operating a base station or eNodeBaccording to yet another embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 20 illustrates a method of operating a subscriber station accordingto yet another embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 21 illustrates a search space composed of a set of consecutive thecontrol channel element (CCEs) according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 22 illustrates a method of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a first embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 23 illustrates a method of operating a UE or subscriber stationaccording to a first embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 24 illustrates a method of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a second embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 25 illustrates a method of operating a UE or subscriber stationaccording to a second embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 26 illustrates a linkage between a location of a control channelelement (CCE) aggregation and a stream (or DRS) ID according to anembodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 27 illustrates a method of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a third embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 28 illustrates a method of operating a UE or subscriber stationaccording to a third embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 29 illustrates downlink (DL) formats according to embodiments ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 30 illustrates a method of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a fourth embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 31 illustrates a method of operating a UE or subscriber stationaccording to a fourth embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 32 illustrates a table used to indicate a number of streamsaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 33 illustrates the use of a DRS set indicator flag to indicate aDRS RE set index according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 34 illustrates a DCI format according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 35 illustrates a DCI format according to another embodiment of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 36 illustrates a table used to map assigned DRSs or stream indicesaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 37 illustrates a use of bit values in the DRS set indicator flagand DRS set number flag according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 38 illustrates a DCI format according to a further embodiment ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 39 illustrates a DCI format according to a yet another embodimentof this disclosure;

FIG. 40 illustrates a DCI format according to a yet further embodimentof this disclosure; and

FIG. 41 illustrates a table used to map assigned DRSs or stream indicesaccording to another embodiment of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 41, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system.

With regard to the following description, it is noted that the LTE term“node B” is another term for “base station” used below. Also, the LTEterm “user equipment” or “UE” is another term for “subscriber station”used below.

FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary wireless network 100, which transmitsmessages according to the principles of the present disclosure. In theillustrated embodiment, wireless network 100 includes base station (BS)101, base station (BS) 102, base station (BS) 103, and other similarbase stations (not shown).

Base station 101 is in communication with Internet 130 or a similarIP-based network (not shown).

Base station 102 provides wireless broadband access to Internet 130 to afirst plurality of subscriber stations within coverage area 120 of basestation 102. The first plurality of subscriber stations includessubscriber station 111, which may be located in a small business (SB),subscriber station 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E),subscriber station 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS),subscriber station 114, which may be located in a first residence (R),subscriber station 115, which may be located in a second residence (R),and subscriber station 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as acell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, or the like.

Base station 103 provides wireless broadband access to Internet 130 to asecond plurality of subscriber stations within coverage area 125 of basestation 103. The second plurality of subscriber stations includessubscriber station 115 and subscriber station 116. In an exemplaryembodiment, base stations 101-103 may communicate with each other andwith subscriber stations 111-116 using OFDM or OFDMA techniques.

While only six subscriber stations are depicted in FIG. 1, it isunderstood that wireless network 100 may provide wireless broadbandaccess to additional subscriber stations. It is noted that subscriberstation 115 and subscriber station 116 are located on the edges of bothcoverage area 120 and coverage area 125. Subscriber station 115 andsubscriber station 116 each communicate with both base station 102 andbase station 103 and may be said to be operating in handoff mode, asknown to those of skill in the art.

Subscriber stations 111-116 may access voice, data, video, videoconferencing, and/or other broadband services via Internet 130. In anexemplary embodiment, one or more of subscriber stations 111-116 may beassociated with an access point (AP) of a WiFi WLAN. Subscriber station116 may be any of a number of mobile devices, including awireless-enabled laptop computer, personal data assistant, notebook,handheld device, or other wireless-enabled device. Subscriber stations114 and 115 may be, for example, a wireless-enabled personal computer(PC), a laptop computer, a gateway, or another device.

FIG. 2 is a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) transmit path 200. FIG. 3 is a high-leveldiagram of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)receive path 300. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the OFDMA transmit path 200 isimplemented in base station (BS) 102 and the OFDMA receive path 300 isimplemented in subscriber station (SS) 116 for the purposes ofillustration and explanation only. However, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the OFDMA receive path 300 may also beimplemented in BS 102 and the OFDMA transmit path 200 may be implementedin SS 116.

The transmit path 200 in BS 102 comprises a channel coding andmodulation block 205, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 210, a Size NInverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 215, a parallel-to-serial(P-to-S) block 220, an add cyclic prefix block 225, an up-converter (UC)230, a reference signal multiplexer 290, and a reference signalallocator 295.

The receive path 300 in SS 116 comprises a down-converter (DC) 255, aremove cyclic prefix block 260, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 265,a Size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a parallel-to-serial(P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.

At least some of the components in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be implemented insoftware while other components may be implemented by configurablehardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. Inparticular, it is noted that the FFT blocks and the IFFT blocksdescribed in the present disclosure document may be implemented asconfigurable software algorithms, where the value of Size N may bemodified according to the implementation.

Furthermore, although the present disclosure is directed to anembodiment that implements the Fast Fourier Transform and the InverseFast Fourier Transform, this is by way of illustration only and shouldnot be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. It will beappreciated that in an alternate embodiment of the disclosure, the FastFourier Transform functions and the Inverse Fast Fourier Transformfunctions may easily be replaced by Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)functions and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions,respectively. It will be appreciated that, for DFT and IDFT functions,the value of the N variable may be any integer number (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4,etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of the N variable maybe any integer number that is a power of two (i.e., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,etc.).

In BS 102, channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set ofinformation bits, applies coding (e.g., Turbo coding) and modulates(e.g., QPSK, QAM) the input bits to produce a sequence offrequency-domain modulation symbols. Serial-to-parallel block 210converts (i.e., de-multiplexes) the serial modulated symbols to paralleldata to produce N parallel symbol streams where N is the IFFT/FFT sizeused in BS 102 and SS 116. Size N IFFT block 215 then performs an IFFToperation on the N parallel symbol streams to produce time-domain outputsignals. Parallel-to-serial block 220 converts (i.e., multiplexes) theparallel time-domain output symbols from Size N IFFT block 215 toproduce a serial time-domain signal. Add cyclic prefix block 225 theninserts a cyclic prefix to the time-domain signal. Finally, up-converter230 modulates (i.e., up-converts) the output of add cyclic prefix block225 to RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signalmay also be filtered at baseband before conversion to RF frequency. Insome embodiments, reference signal multiplexer 290 is operable tomultiplex the reference signals using code division multiplexing (CDM)or time/frequency division multiplexing (TFDM). Reference signalallocator 295 is operable to dynamically allocate reference signals inan OFDM signal in accordance with the methods and system disclosed inthe present disclosure.

The transmitted RF signal arrives at SS 116 after passing through thewireless channel and reverse operations performed at BS 102.Down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to basebandfrequency and remove cyclic prefix block 260 removes the cyclic prefixto produce the serial time-domain baseband signal. Serial-to-parallelblock 265 converts the time-domain baseband signal to parallel timedomain signals. Size N FFT block 270 then performs an FFT algorithm toproduce N parallel frequency-domain signals. Parallel-to-serial block275 converts the parallel frequency-domain signals to a sequence ofmodulated data symbols. Channel decoding and demodulation block 280demodulates and then decodes the modulated symbols to recover theoriginal input data stream.

Each of base stations 101-103 may implement a transmit path that isanalogous to transmitting in the downlink to subscriber stations 111-116and may implement a receive path that is analogous to receiving in theuplink from subscriber stations 111-116. Similarly, each one ofsubscriber stations 111-116 may implement a transmit path correspondingto the architecture for transmitting in the uplink to base stations101-103 and may implement a receive path corresponding to thearchitecture for receiving in the downlink from base stations 101-103.

The total bandwidth in an OFDM system is divided into narrowbandfrequency units called subcarriers. The number of subcarriers is equalto the FFT/IFFT size N used in the system. In general, the number ofsubcarriers used for data is less than N because some subcarriers at theedge of the frequency spectrum are reserved as guard subcarriers. Ingeneral, no information is transmitted on guard subcarriers.

The transmitted signal in each downlink (DL) slot of a resource block isdescribed by a resource grid of N_(RB) ^(DL)N_(sc) ^(RB) subcarriers andN_(symb) ^(DL) OFDM symbols. The quantity N_(RB) ^(DL) depends on thedownlink transmission bandwidth configured in the cell and fulfillsN_(RB) ^(min,DL)≦N_(RB) ^(DL)≦N_(RB) ^(max,DL), where N_(RB) ^(min,DL)and N_(RB) ^(max,DL) are the smallest and largest downlink bandwidth,respectively, supported. In some embodiments, subcarriers are consideredthe smallest elements that are capable of being modulated.

In case of multi-antenna transmission, there is one resource griddefined per antenna port.

Each element in the resource grid for antenna port p is called aresource element (RE) and is uniquely identified by the index pair (k,l)in a slot where k=0, . . . , N_(RB) ^(DL)N_(sc) ^(RB)−1 and l=0, . . . ,N_(symb) ^(DL)−1 are the indices in the frequency and time domains,respectively. Resource element (k,l) on antenna port p corresponds tothe complex value a_(k,l) ^((p)). If there is no risk for confusion orno particular antenna port is specified, the index p may be dropped.

In LTE, DL reference signals (RSs) are used for two purposes. First, UEsmeasure channel quality information (CQI), rank information (RI) andprecoder matrix information (PMI) using DL RSs. Second, each UEdemodulates the DL transmission signal intended for itself using the DLRSs. In addition, DL RSs are divided into three categories:cell-specific RSs, multi-media broadcast over a single frequency network(MBSFN) RSs, and UE-specific RSs or dedicated RSs (DRSs).

Cell-specific reference signals (or common reference signals: CRSs) aretransmitted in all downlink subframes in a cell supporting non-MBSFNtransmission. If a subframe is used for transmission with MBSFN, onlythe first a few (0, 1 or 2) OFDM symbols in a subframe can be used fortransmission of cell-specific reference symbols. The notation R_(p) isused to denote a resource element used for reference signal transmissionon antenna port p.

UE-specific reference signals (or dedicated RS: DRS) are supported forsingle-antenna-port transmission on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel(PDSCH) and are transmitted on antenna port 5. The UE is informed byhigher layers whether the UE-specific reference signal is present and isa valid phase reference for PDSCH demodulation or not. UE-specificreference signals are transmitted only on the resource blocks upon whichthe corresponding PDSCH is mapped.

The time resources of an LTE system are partitioned into 10 msec frames,and each frame is further partitioned into 10 subframes of one msecduration each. A subframe is divided into two time slots, each of whichspans 0.5 msec. A subframe is partitioned in the frequency domain intomultiple resource blocks (RBs), where an RB is composed of 12subcarriers.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram 400 of a base station 420 in communicationwith a plurality of mobile stations 402, 404, 406, and 408 according toan embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 4, base station 420 simultaneously communicates withmultiple of mobile stations through the use of multiple antenna beams,each antenna beam is formed toward its intended mobile station at thesame time and same frequency. Base station 420 and mobile stations 402,404, 406, and 408 are employing multiple antennas for transmission andreception of radio wave signals. The radio wave signals can beOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals.

In this embodiment, base station 420 performs simultaneous beamformingthrough a plurality of transmitters to each mobile station. Forinstance, base station 420 transmits data to mobile station 402 througha beamformed signal 410, data to mobile station 404 through a beamformedsignal 412, data to mobile station 406 through a beamformed signal 414,and data to mobile station 408 through a beamformed signal 416. In someembodiments of this disclosure, base station 420 is capable ofsimultaneously beamforming to the mobile stations 402, 404, 406, and408. In some embodiments, each beamformed signal is formed toward itsintended mobile station at the same time and the same frequency. For thepurpose of clarity, the communication from a base station to a mobilestation may also be referred to known as downlink communication and thecommunication from a mobile station to a base station may be referred toas uplink communication.

Base station 420 and mobile stations 402, 404, 406, and 408 employmultiple antennas for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. It isunderstood that the wireless signals may be radio wave signals, and thewireless signals may use any transmission scheme known to one skilled inthe art, including an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)transmission scheme.

Mobile stations 402, 404, 406, and 408 may be any device that is capablereceiving wireless signals. Examples of mobile stations 402, 404, 406,and 408 include, but are not limited to, a personal data assistant(PDA), laptop, mobile telephone, handheld device, or any other devicethat is capable of receiving the beamformed transmissions.

The use of multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas atboth a base station and a single mobile station to improve the capacityand reliability of a wireless communication channel is known as a SingleUser Multiple Input Multiple Output (SU-MIMO) system. A MIMO systempromises linear increase in capacity with K where K is the minimum ofnumber of transmit (M) and receive antennas (N) (i.e., K=min(M,N)). AMIMO system can be implemented with the schemes of spatial multiplexing,a transmit/receive beamforming, or transmit/receive diversity.

As an extension of SU-MIMO, multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) is a communicationscenario where a base station with multiple transmit antennas cansimultaneously communicate with multiple mobile stations through the useof multi-user beamforming schemes such as Spatial Division MultipleAccess (SDMA) to improve the capacity and reliability of a wirelesscommunication channel.

FIG. 5 illustrates an SDMA scheme according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

As shown in FIG. 5, base station 420 is equipped with 8 transmitantennas while mobile stations 402, 404, 406, and 408 are each equippedtwo antennas. In this example, base station 420 has eight transmitantennas. Each of the transmit antennas transmits one of beamformedsignals 410, 502, 504, 412, 414, 506, 416, and 508. In this example,mobile station 402 receives beamformed transmissions 410 and 502, mobilestation 404 receives beamformed transmissions 504 and 412, mobilestation 406 receives beamformed transmissions 506 and 414, and mobilestation 408 receives beamformed transmissions 508 and 416.

Since base station 420 has eight transmit antenna beams (each antennabeams one stream of data streams), eight streams of beamformed data canbe formed at base station 420. Each mobile station can potentiallyreceive up to 2 streams (beams) of data in this example. If each of themobile stations 402, 404, 406, and 408 was limited to receive only asingle stream (beam) of data, instead of multiple streamssimultaneously, this would be multi-user beamforming (i.e., MU-BF).

Closed-loop fixed codebook transmit beamforming has been employed inmany wireless system such as WIMAX or 3GPP LTE. Descriptions of suchsystems can be found, for example, in 3GPP TS36.211 “Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA): Physical Channel and Modulation” andIEEE 802.16e “Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile BroadbandWireless Access Systems”. Both references are hereby incorporated byreference into this disclosure as if fully set forth herein. In a closedloop codebook beamforming system, a transmitter sends a pilot signal orchannel sounding signal to a receiver, and the receiver measures thechannel information and calculates the best codeword within a codebookthat best matches the observed channel. The best codeword information isthen fed back to the transmitter. The transmitter then uses the bestcodeword information for transmit antenna beamforming.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, downlink control information(DCI) format 1A is used for the compact scheduling of one PDSCH codewordand random access procedure initiated by a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) order.

The following information is transmitted by means of the DCI format 1A:

-   -   Flag for format0/format1A differentiation—1 bit where value 0        indicates format 0 and value 1 indicates format 1A.

Format 1A is used for random access procedure initiated by a PDCCH orderonly if format 1A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is scrambled with thecell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and all the remainingfields are set as follows:

-   -   localized/distributed virtual resource block (VRB) assignment        flag—1 bit is set to ‘0’;    -   resource block assignment—┌log₂(N_(RB) ^(DL)(N_(RB) ^(DL)+1)/2)┐        bits, where all bits are set to 1;    -   preamble index—6 bits; and    -   physical random access channel (PRACH) mask index—4 bits.

All the remaining bits in format 1A for compact scheduling assignment ofone PDSCH codeword are set to zeroes.

Otherwise:

-   -   Localized/distributed VRB assignment flag—1 bit as defined in        Section 7.1.6.3 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical        Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by        reference into the present application as if fully set forth        herein.    -   Resource block assignment—┌log₂(N_(RB) ^(DL)(N_(RB) ^(DL)+1)/2)┐        bits as defined in Section 7.1.6.3 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0,        “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby        incorporated by reference into the present application as if        fully set forth herein;        -   for localized VRB, ┌log₂(N_(RB) ^(DL)(N_(RB) ^(DL)+1)/2)┐            bits provide the resource allocation;        -   for distributed VRB,            -   if N_(RB) ^(DL)<50 or if the format 1A CRC is scrambled                by the random access radio network temporary identifier                (RA-RNTI), the paging radio network temporary identifier                (P-RNTI), or the system information radio network                temporary identifier (SI-RNTI), ┌log₂(N_(RB)                ^(DL)(N_(RB) ^(DL)+1)/2)┐ bits provide the resource                allocation.            -   else                -   1 bit, the most significant bit (MSB) indicates the                    gap value, where value 0 indicates N_(gap)=N_(gap,1)                    and value 1 indicates N_(gap)=N_(gap,2); and                -   (┌log₂(N_(RB) ^(DL)(N_(RB) ^(DL)+1)/2)┐−1) bits                    provide the resource allocation.    -   Modulation and coding scheme (MCS)—5 bits as defined in Section        7.1.7 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer        Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by        reference into the present application as if fully set forth        herein.    -   Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number—3 bits for        frequency division duplexing (FDD), 4 bits for time division        duplexing (TDD).    -   New data indicator (NDI)—1 bit.        -   If the format 1A CRC is scrambled by RA-RNTI, P-RNTI, or            SI-RNTI:            -   if N_(RB) ^(DL)≧50 and the localized/distributed VRB                assignment flag is set to 1:                -   the new data indicator bit indicates the gap value,                    where value 0 indicates N_(gap)=N_(gap,1) and value                    1 indicates N_(gap)=N_(gap,2),            -   else the new data indicator bit is reserved.        -   Else            -   the new data indicator bit.    -   Redundancy version—2 bits.    -   Transport power control (TPC) command for physical uplink        control channel (PUCCH)—2 bits as defined in Section 5.1.2.1 of        3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”,        March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the        present application as if fully set forth herein.        -   If the format 1A CRC is scrambled by RA-RNTI, P-RNTI, or            SI-RNTI:            -   the most significant bit of the TPC command is reserved.            -   the least significant bit of the TPC command indicates                column N_(PRB) ^(1A) of the transport block size (TBS)                table defined in 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA,                Physical Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby                incorporated by reference into the present application                as if fully set forth herein.            -   if least significant bit is 0, then N_(PRB) ^(1A)=2 else                N_(PRB) ^(1A)=3.        -   Else            -   the two bits including the most significant bit                indicates the TPC command.    -   Downlink assignment index (this field is present in TDD for all        the uplink-downlink configurations. This field is not present in        FDD)—2 bits.

If the number of information bits in format 1A is less than that offormat 0, zeros are appended to format 1A until the payload size equalsthat of format 0.

If the number of information bits in format 1A belongs to one of thesizes in Table 5.3.3.1.2-1 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, PhysicalLayer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by referenceinto the present application as if fully set forth herein, one zero bitis appended to format 1A.

When the format 1A CRC is scrambled with an RA-RNTI, P-RNTI, or SI-RNTI,then the following fields among the fields above are reserved:

-   -   HARQ process number; and    -   Downlink Assignment Index (used for TDD only and is not present        in FDD).

In other embodiments, the DCI format 2A is defined for downlinkopen-loop spatial multiplexing in Section 5.3.3.1.5A of 3GPP TS 36.212 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing and Channel Coding”, March 2009, which ishereby incorporated by reference into the present application as iffully set forth herein.

The following information is transmitted by means of the DCI format 2A:

-   -   Resource allocation header (resource allocation type 0/type 1)—1        bit as defined in Section 7.1.6 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0,        “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby        incorporated by reference into the present application as if        fully set forth herein.

If downlink bandwidth is less than or equal to 10 physical resourceblocks (PRBs), there is no resource allocation header and resourceallocation type 0 is assumed.

-   -   Resource block assignment:        -   for resource allocation type 0 as defined in Section 7.1.6.1            of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer            Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by            reference into the present application as if fully set forth            herein,            -   ┌N_(RB) ^(DL)/P┐ bits provide the resource allocation.        -   for resource allocation type 1 as defined in Section 7.1.6.2            of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer            Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by            reference into the present application as if fully set forth            herein,            -   ┌log₂(P)┐ bits of this field are used as a header                specific to this resource allocation type to indicate                the selected resource blocks subset.            -   1 bit indicates a shift of the resource allocation span.            -   (┌N_(RB) ^(DL)/P┐−┌log₂(P)┐−1) bits provide the resource                allocation.

The value of P depends on the number of DL resource blocks as indicatedin subclause [7.1.6.1] of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical LayerProcedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference intothe present application as if fully set forth herein.

-   -   TPC command for PUCCH—2 bits as defined in Section 5.1.2.1 of        3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”,        March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the        present application as if fully set forth herein.    -   Downlink Assignment Index (this field is present in TDD for all        the uplink-downlink configurations. This field is not present in        FDD)—2 bits.    -   HARQ process number—3 bits (FDD), 4 bits (TDD).    -   Transport block to codeword swap flag—1 bit.

In addition, for transport block 1:

-   -   Modulation and coding scheme—5 bits as defined in Section 7.1.7        of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”,        March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the        present application as if fully set forth herein.    -   New data indicator—1 bit.    -   Redundancy version—2 bits.

In addition, for transport block 2:

-   -   Modulation and coding scheme—5 bits as defined in Section 7.1.7        of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”,        March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the        present application as if fully set forth herein.    -   New data indicator—1 bit.    -   Redundancy version—2 bits.

Precoding information—number of bits as specified in Table 5.3.3.1.5A-1of 3GPP TS 36.212 v 8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing and Channel Coding”,March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the presentapplication as if fully set forth herein.

If both transport blocks are enabled, the transport block to codewordmapping is specified according to Table 5.3.3.1.5-1 of 3GPP TS 36.212 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing and Channel Coding”, March 2009, which ishereby incorporated by reference into the present application as iffully set forth herein.

If one of the transport blocks is disabled, the transport block tocodeword swap flag is reserved, and the transport block to codewordmapping is specified according to Table 5.3.3.1.5-2 of 3GPP TS 36.212 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing and Channel Coding”, March 2009, which ishereby incorporated by reference into the present application as iffully set forth herein.

The precoding information field is defined according to Table5.3.3.1.5A-2 of 3GPP TS 36.212 v 8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing andChannel Coding”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by referenceinto the present application as if fully set forth herein. For a singleenabled codeword, index 1 in Table 5.3.3.1.5A-2 is only supported forretransmission of the corresponding transport block if that transportblock has previously been transmitted using two layers with open-loopspatial multiplexing.

For transmission with 2 antenna ports, the precoding information fieldis not present. The number of transmission layers is equal to 2 if bothcodewords are enabled. Transmit diversity is used if codeword 0 isenabled while codeword 1 is disabled.

If the number of information bits in format 2A belongs to one of thesizes in Table 5.3.3.1.2-1, one zero bit is appended to format 2A.

Modulation order determination is defined for spatial multiplexing inSection 7.1.7.1 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical LayerProcedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference intothe present application as if fully set forth herein.

In particular embodiments, the UE uses Q_(m)=2 if the DCI CRC isscrambled by P-RNTI, RA-RNTI, or SI-RNTI. Otherwise, the UE uses I_(MCS)and Table 7.1.7.1-1 to determine the modulation order (Q_(m)) used inthe physical downlink shared channel.

If the DCI CRC is scrambled by P-RNTI, RA-RNTI, or SI-RNTI then

-   -   for DCI format 1A:        -   the UE sets the TBS index (I_(TBS)) equal to I_(MCS) and            determine the TBS by the procedure in Section 7.1.7.2.1 of            3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”,            March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference into            the present application as if fully set forth herein.    -   for DCI format 1C:        -   the UE sets the TBS index (I_(TBS)) equal to I_(MCS) and            determine the TBS from Table 7.1.7.2.3-1 of 3GPP TS 36.213            v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”, March 2009,            which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present            application as if fully set forth herein.

Else

-   -   for 0≦I_(MCS)≦28, the UE first determines the TBS index        (I_(TBS)) using I_(MCS) and Table 7.1.7.1-1 of 3GPP TS 36.213        v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which        is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application        as if fully set forth herein, except if the transport block is        disabled in DCI formats 2 and 2A as specified below. For a        transport block that is not mapped to two-layer spatial        multiplexing, the TBS is determined by the procedure in Section        7.1.7.2.1 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer        Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by        reference into the present application as if fully set forth        herein. For a transport block that is mapped to two-layer        spatial multiplexing, the TBS is determined by the procedure in        Section 7.1.7.2.2 of 3GPP TS 36.213 v8.6.0, “E-UTRA, Physical        Layer Procedures”, March 2009, which is hereby incorporated by        reference into the present application as if fully set forth        herein.    -   for 29≦I_(MCS)≦31, the TBS is assumed to be as determined from        DCI transported in the latest PDCCH for the same transport block        using 0≦I_(MCS)≦28.

In DCI formats 2 and 2A, a transport block is disabled if I_(MCS)=0 andif rvidx=1. Otherwise the transport block is enabled.

The NDI and HARQ process ID, as signalled on PDCCH, and the TBS, asdetermined above, are delivered to higher layers.

Demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) are provided for each UE'sdemodulation. In some cases, the DMRS can be a dedicated RS (DRS) toeach UE, implying the RS provided to one UE cannot be utilized by theother UEs scheduled in different frequency bands in the same subframe,or in adjacent subframes in the same frequency band. In the case ofmulti-antenna transmissions, a number of DRSs are provided for thedemodulation of the number of multiple data streams, and each DRS issometimes precoded with the same precoder used for the data stream.

FIG. 6 illustrates reference signal patterns according to an embodimentof this disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a 2-DRS pattern 610 and a 4-DRS pattern 620.Reference signal pattern 610 is an FDM/TDM pilot pattern that cansupport up to 2 layer transmissions. In reference pattern 610, the DRSREs are partitioned into two groups, the REs labeled with 0 and thosewith 1. The DRS REs labeled with 0 carry the DRS for layer 0, while theDRS REs labeled with 1 carry the DRS for layer 1.

Reference signal pattern 620 is a CDM/FDM pilot pattern that can supportup to four layer transmissions, where DRS REs are again partitioned intotwo groups, those labeled with 0,1 and those with 2,3. For example, theDRS REs labeled with 0,1 carry the DRS for layers 0 and 1 where the twolayers' RSs are code-division multiplexed (CDMed). In the two adjacentDRS REs labeled with 0,1, a DRS symbol r0 for layer 0 is mapped to thetwo REs spread by a Walsh code [1 1] that results in [r0 r0], while aDRS symbol r1 for layer 1 is mapped to the two REs spread by a Walshcode [1-1] that results in [r1-r1].

In one embodiment, it is assumed that a first UE and a second UE arescheduled in a subframe.

In one MU-MIMO transmission mode, for the first UE, i_DRS=0 meaning thatthe first DRS pattern, DRS(0), is used for this UE.

For the second UE, i_DRS=1 meaning that the second DRS pattern, DRS(1),is used for this UE.

FIG. 7 illustrates data sections and reference signal sections of thereference pattern 610 from the perspective of two user equipmentsaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates the behavior/observation of the first and second UEson the data section and the DRS section of the reference pattern 610. Asshown in reference signal pattern 710, the first UE only sees DRS(0) asthe pilot RE, and the other REs (other than CRS and DRS(0)) are seen bythe first UE as data REs. On the other hand, as seen in reference signalpattern 720, the second UE only sees DRS(1) as the pilot RE, and otherREs (other than CRS and DRS(1)) are seen by the second as data REs.

FIG. 8 illustrates data sections and reference signal sections of thereference pattern 610 from the perspective of two user equipmentsaccording to another embodiment of this disclosure.

In another MU-MIMO mode, for the first UE, N_DRS=2 and i_DRS=0 meaningthat the first DRS pattern, DRS(0), is used for this UE. For the secondUE, N_DRS=2 and i_DRS=1 meaning that the second DRS pattern, DRS(1), isused for this UE.

With these assumptions, FIG. 8 illustrates each UE's observation on thedata section and the DRS section of the reference pattern 610 accordingto another embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in reference signalpattern 810, the first UE only sees DRS(0) as the pilot RE, and the REs(other than CRS DRS(0), and DRS(1)) are seen by the first UE as dataREs. On the other hand, as seen in reference signal pattern 820, thesecond UE only sees DRS(1) as the pilot RE, and the REs (other than CRS,DRS(0), DRS(1)) are seen by the second UE as data REs.

When multiple UEs are co-scheduled in the same frequency band, a firstnumber of streams are transmitted to the first UE, and a second numberof streams are transmitted to the second UE. There are at least twopossible ways for the eNodeB to provide each UE's DRS in this multi-userMIMO transmission.

In a first MU-MIMO method, the eNodeB provides orthogonal sets of DRS tothe UEs, where the first and the second UE would receive the first andthe second number of orthogonal DRSs. All the first number and thesecond number of DRSs are orthogonally multiplexed, e.g., by FDM/TDM orCDM. Furthermore, the first and the second UEs would know that therecould be another UE co-scheduled in the same time-frequency resource.

In a second MU-MIMO method, the eNodeB provides the first and the secondnumber of DRSs to the first and the second UE. In this method, the firstnumber and the second number of DRSs may not be orthogonallymultiplexed. Furthermore, the first and the second UEs may not be ableto know that there could be another UE co-scheduled in the sametime-frequency resource.

In one example, the first and the second UE are co-scheduled in the samefrequency band by an eNodeB, where the first UE would receive stream 0,while the second UE would receive stream 1.

Using the first MU-MIMO method, the first UE would receive DRS 0together with stream 0, while the second UE would receive DRS 1 togetherwith stream 1. FIG. 6 may be referred to for specific DRS patterns withFDM/TDM and with CDM. For example, in the FDM reference signal pattern610, the first UE would receive the DRS in the RS REs with label 0,while the second UE would receive the DRS in the RS REs with label 1. Ifthe first UE were to know that another UE is co-scheduled in thetime-frequency resource where the first UE receives the downlinktransmission, the first UE may try to estimate interfering channels inthe other DRS REs (i.e., the RS REs with label 1) and use theinterference information for demodulation.

Using the second MU-MIMO method, the first and second UEs' DRSs are notnecessarily orthogonally multiplexed, and each UE assumes that there areno co-scheduled UEs in the time-frequency resource where the UEs receivethe downlink transmission. In other words, in this MU-MIMO mode, the UEsexpect SU-MIMO transmissions from the eNodeB. In one example, both thefirst and the second UEs would receive DRS in the same set of RS REs(e.g., RS REs with label 0 in FIG. 6).

For single-user transmissions in a time-frequency resource of aneNodeB's cell, RS scrambling can be used to make inter-cell interferenceindependent of the desired RS signal to a UE. In each downlinktransmission, a UE receives a distorted RS signal that is asuperposition of the desired RS signal, the interfering RS signal fromother cells, and the noise. With the RS scrambling sequence beingcell-specific, the inter-cell interference seen by a UE becomesindependent of the desired RS signal, which facilitates channelestimation.

In the case of multi-user transmissions, more consideration of the DRSscrambling is needed to facilitate the channel and the intra-cellinterference estimation. There are two ways of DRS scrambling. With aUE-specific scrambling method, DRS 0 and DRS 1 are scrambled in aUE-specific way. With a cell-specific scrambling method, DRS 0 and DRS 1are scrambled in a cell-specific way.

In one embodiment, the DRSs are scrambled using UE-specific scramblingmethod and the first MU-MIMO method is used. Two UEs would have twoorthogonal sets of resources (DRS REs) for the two sets of DRSs. In thiscase, even if the second UE were to know the RS REs for the first UE'sDRS, the second UE may not know the scrambling sequence used for the DRSfor the first UE's stream since the second UE does not know the firstUE's id. In such a case, the second UE may not be able to estimate theinterfering channels. On the other hand, when the second MU-MIMO methodis used, the two UEs may receive their DRSs in the same set of DRS REs.In the set of DRS REs, the second UE would receive a distorted RS signalthat is a superposition of the desired RS signal, the interfering RSsignal intended for the second UE, and the noise. When the scramblingsequence is UE-specific, the interfering RS signal is independent of thedesired RS signal to the second UE. This enables the second UE tomeasure its channel separately from the interfering channel intended forthe first UE.

In another embodiment, the DRSs are scrambled using a cell-specificscrambling method, and the first MU-MIMO method is used. Two UEs wouldhave two orthogonal sets of resources (DRS REs) for the two sets ofDRSs. In this case, if the second UE knows of the RS REs for the firstUE's DRS, the second UE would know of the scrambling sequence used forthe DRS for the first UE's stream since the DRS is cell-specific. Inthis case, the second UE may be able to estimate the interferingchannels carried in the DRS REs with label 0. On the other hand, whenthe second MU-MIMO method is used, two UEs may receive their DRSs in thesame set of DRS REs. In the set of DRS REs, the second UE would receivea distorted RS signal that is a superposition of the desired RS signal,the interfering RS signal intended for the second UE, and the noise.When the scrambling sequence is cell-specific, the interfering RS signalis aligned with the desired RS signal to the second UE. In this case,the second UE can only measure the superimposed channel of theinterfering channel and the desired channel, which could degrade thedemodulation performance.

Accordingly, one scrambling method cannot universally provide goodchannel estimation and demodulation performance in both MU-MIMOscenarios. Thus, this disclosure provides a system and method for awireless communication system to adapt a scrambling method based atleast partly upon the MU-MIMO mode.

In some embodiments, the UE-specific scrambling method has aninitialization seed for each DRS, and the initialization seed isdependent on the UE-id or RNTI number. The initialization seed may ormay not be dependent on the antenna port id or the cell-id.

In one particular embodiment, the initialization seed is determinedusing Equation 1 below:c _(init)=(└n _(s)/2┘+1)·(2N _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶ +n _(RNTI),  [Eqn. 1]

where n_(s) is the slot id, N_(ID) ^(cell) is the cell id, and n_(RNTI)is the UE-id or the RNTI number.

In another particular embodiment, the initialization seed is determinedusing Equation 2 below:c _(init)=(g+z+1)(└n _(s)/2┘+1)·(2N _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶ +n_(RNTI),  [Eqn. 2]

where g is an antenna port number (e.g., 0 or 1 when there are twoantenna ports) and z is an integer (e.g., 0 or 1).

In yet another particular embodiment, the initialization seed isdetermined using Equation 3 below:c _(init)=(└n _(s)/2┘+g+z+1)·(2N _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶ +n _(RNTI),  [Eqn.3]

where g is an antenna port number.

In other embodiments, the cell-specific scrambling method has aninitialization seed for each DRS, and the initialization seed isdependent on the cell-id. The initialization seed may or may not bedependent on the antenna port id or the UE-id or RNTI.

In a particular embodiment, the initialization seed is determined usingEquation 4 below:c _(init)=(└n _(s)/2┘+1)·(2N _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶,  [Eqn. 4]

where n_(s) is the slot id, N_(ID) ^(cell) is the cell id, and n_(RNTI)is the UE-id or the RNTI number.

In another particular embodiment, the initialization seed is determinedusing Equation 5 below:c _(init)=(g+1)(└n _(s)/2┘+1)·(2N _(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶,  [Eqn. 5]

where g is an antenna port number, e.g., 0 or 1 when there are twoantenna ports.

In yet another particular embodiment, the initialization seed isdetermined using Equation 6 below:c _(init)=(└n _(s)/2┘+g+1)·(2N_(ID) ^(cell)+1)·2¹⁶,  [Eqn. 6]

where g is an antenna port number.

Once the scrambling sequence is initialized, the scrambling sequencesare generated, for example, according to the methods and systemsdescribed in U.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser. No.12/749,340, filed Mar. 29, 2010, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORMULTI-LAYER BEAMFORMING”, which is hereby incorporated by reference intothe present application as if fully set forth herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a system for generating and mapping reference signalsequences according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 9, system 900 generates a plurality of RS sequences andmaps the generated RS sequences onto a number of antenna ports in twosteps. The generated RS sequences can be mapped onto eithercell-specific antenna ports or UE-specific (or dedicated) antenna ports.

The RS sequence generator 901 receives an initialization seed c_(init,g)for generating a pseudo-random sequence c_(g)(i). The RS sequencegenerator 901 then uses the pseudo-random sequence c_(g)(i) to generatea respective RS sequence for each of the antenna ports and sends each RSsequence to a respective resource element mapper 903-1 to 903-n for eachof the antenna ports.

FIG. 10A illustrates a table 1000 summarizing downlink controlinformation (DCI) formats used for downlink (DL) grants according to anembodiment of this disclosure.

For supporting MU-MIMO, an eNodeB may determine a transmission mode forUEs by higher-layer signaling. In a transmission mode, an eNodeB mayschedule multiple types of downlink transmissions, e.g., one for normaltransmission, another for fallback transmission, and so forth. Fordifferent types of transmissions, an eNodeB transmits different downlinkcontrol information (DCI) formats for the downlink (DL) grants.

As shown in table 1000, normal transmission mode is scheduled by DCIformat 2A′, regardless of whether the transmission is configured byC-RNTI or semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI. In this embodiment,please note that 2A′ refers to a slightly modified version of format 2A.In normal transmission mode, a UE can receive up to two streams and upto two DRSs associated with the two streams, and an eNodeB can scheduleup to two data streams and up to two DRSs to a number of UEs in a unitof time-frequency resource. UEs in normal transmission mode are awarethat the DRS REs for the two DRSs do not carry data symbols forthemselves. On the other hand, fallback modes are scheduled by DCIformat 1A. When a DL transmission is configured by C-RNTI, the fallbacktransmission is a transmit diversity or a single-layer beamformingscheme. When a DL transmission is configured by SPS C-RNTI, the fallbacktransmission is single layer beamforming, where the DRS port index issignaled semi-statically in the upper layer other than the PHY layer. AneNodeB may schedule up to two UEs with different DRS port indicesassigned by the higher layer in the same time frequency resource bytransmitting up to two DCI format 1A to up to two UEs.

When the DRS port is assigned semi-statically, various methods may beused as described in this disclosure. For example, the UE id may beassociated with the DRS port assigned, or UEs with an even UE id wouldhave DRS port 0, while UEs with an odd UE id would have DRS port 1.

As indicated by table 1000, a base station scrambles the cyclicredundancy check (CRC) bits of a downlink control information (DCI)format using a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) fordynamic scheduling, and scrambles the CRC bits of the DCI format using asemi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI for semi-persistent scheduling.

If C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the base station generates adownlink transmission grant using the DCI format being a fallback formatto indicate a transmit diversity transmission scheme or a single-layerbeamforming scheme, and transmits the downlink transmission grant in acommon or user equipment-specific search space of a control channel(CCE) domain. The base station also generates a downlink transmissiongrant using the DCI format being a dual-layer beamforming format toindicate a dual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmissionscheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, and transmits thedownlink transmission grant in a user equipment-specific search space ofthe CCE domain.

If SPS C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, the base stationgenerates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being thefallback format to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmits the downlink transmission grant in a common or userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain. The base stationgenerates a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being thedual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRS port transmissionscheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, and transmits thedownlink transmission grant in a user equipment-specific search space ofthe CCE domain.

FIG. 10B illustrates a method 1010 of operating a base station accordingto an embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 10B, the method 1010 comprising scrambling cyclicredundancy check (CRC) bits of a downlink control information (DCI)format using a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) fordynamic scheduling, and scrambling the CRC bits of the DCI format usinga semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI for semi-persistent scheduling(block 1011).

If C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits (block 1013), the method 1001includes generating a downlink transmission grant using the DCI formathaving a fallback format to indicate a transmit diversity transmissionscheme or a single-layer beamforming scheme (block 1015), andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a common or userequipment-specific search space of a control channel (CCE) domain (block1017). The method 1001 also includes generating a downlink transmissiongrant using the DCI format being a dual-layer beamforming format toindicate a dual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmissionscheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme (block 1019), andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain (block 1021).

If SPS C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits (block 1013), the method1001 includes generating a downlink transmission grant using the DCIformat being the fallback format to indicate a single-DRS porttransmission scheme (block 1023), and transmitting the downlinktransmission grant in a common or user equipment-specific search spaceof the CCE domain (block 1025). The method 1001 also includes generatinga downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being the dual-layerbeamforming format to indicate a dual-DRS port transmission scheme or asingle-DRS port transmission scheme (block 1027), and transmitting thedownlink transmission grant in a user equipment-specific search space ofthe CCE domain (block 1029).

Furthermore, as indicated in table 1000, a subscriber receives adownlink transmission grant from a base station. The subscriberde-scrambles the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of the downlinktransmission grant using a cell radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI) key, and de-scrambles the CRC bits of the downlink transmissiongrant using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key.

If the C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, the subscriberstation determines if the downlink transmission grant utilizes adownlink control information (DCI) format being a fallback format or adual-layer beamforming format. If the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, the subscriber stationdetermines that a transmit diversity transmission scheme or asingle-layer beamforming scheme is used by the base station. If thedownlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the dual-layerbeamforming format, the subscriber station determines that adual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmission scheme or asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station.

If the SPS C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, thesubscriber station determines if the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format or the dual-layerbeamforming format. If the downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCIformat being the fallback format, the subscriber station determines thata single-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station. Ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thedual-layer beamforming format, the subscriber station determines that adual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmissionscheme is used by the base station.

FIG. 10C illustrates a method 1050 of operating a subscriber stationaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 10C, the method 1050 includes receiving a downlinktransmission grant from a base station (block 1051). The method 1050also includes de-scrambling cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of thedownlink transmission grant using a cell radio network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI) key, and de-scrambling the CRC bits of the downlinktransmission grant using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key(block 1053).

If the C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits (block 1055),the method includes determining if the downlink transmission grantutilizes a downlink control information (DCI) format being a fallbackformat or a dual-layer beamforming format (block 1057). If the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a downlink control information (DCI) formatbeing the fallback format, the method 1050 further includes determiningthat a transmit diversity transmission scheme or a single-layerbeamforming scheme is used by the base station (block 1059). If thedownlink transmission grant utilizes a downlink control information(DCI) format being the dual-layer beamforming format, the method 1050further includes determining that a dual-dedicated reference signal(DRS) port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission schemeis used by the base station (block 1061).

If the SPS C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits (block1055), the method 1050 includes determining if the downlink transmissiongrant utilizes a downlink control information (DCI) format being thefallback format or the dual-layer beamforming format (block 1063). Ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a downlink control information(DCI) format being the fallback format, the method 1050 further includesdetermining that a single-DRS port transmission scheme is used by thebase station (block 1065). If the downlink transmission grant utilizes adownlink control information (DCI) format being the dual-layerbeamforming format, the method 1050 further includes determining that adual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmissionscheme is used by the base station (block 1067).

FIG. 11 illustrates a table 1100 showing a mapping of enabled codewordsto a stream index and a dedicated reference signal (DRS) index accordingto an embodiment of this disclosure.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the stream (and the DRS) indexis indicated using an enabled codeword (CW) in a DCI format, and themapping of enabled CWs to the stream index and the DRS index can bedescribed, for example, as shown in table 1100.

FIG. 12 illustrates a table 1200 showing a mapping of a new dataindicator (NDI) bit of a disabled codeword to a stream index and adedicated reference signal (DRS) index according to an embodiment ofthis disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 12, the stream (and the DRS) index is indicated usingan NDI bit for a disabled CW in a DCI format, and the mapping of the NDIbit of a disabled CW to the stream index and the DRS index can bedescribed, for example, as shown in table 1200.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method 1300 of operating a base station or eNodeBaccording to another embodiment of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the choice of the DRS scrambling method isindicated by an eNodeB to a UE using the downlink grant. As shown inFIG. 13, an eNodeB determines if a cell-specific or a UE-specificscrambling method is being used to scramble the DRSs of a scheduled UE(block 1301). If the eNodeB determined that a cell-specific scramblingmethod is to be used, the eNodeB sends a DL grant conveying informationon the cell-specific scrambling method used by the eNodeB (block 1303),and scrambles the DRSs for the scheduled UE using the cell-specificscrambling method (block 1305). If the eNodeB determined that aUE-specific scrambling method is to be used, the eNodeB sends a DL grantconveying information on the UE-specific scrambling method used by theeNodeB (block 1307), and scrambles the DRSs for the scheduled UE usingthe UE-specific scrambling method (block 1309). The eNodeB then maps theDRSs and data to the time-frequency map of a subframe (block 1311), andtransmits the data streams along with corresponding data DRSs to thescheduled UE (block 1313).

FIG. 14 illustrates a method 1400 of operating a subscriber stationaccording to another embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 14, a scheduled UE receives a DL grant from a basestation or eNodeB (block 1401). The DL grant conveys information on theDRS scrambling method used by the eNodeB. The subscriber station alsoreceives data streams along with corresponding DRSs (block 1403). Thesubscriber station reads the information in the DL grant to determine ifa cell-specific or a UE-specific scrambling method is being used toscramble the DRSs (block 1405). If a cell-specific scrambling method isbeing used to scramble the DRSs, the subscriber station de-scrambles theDRSs according the cell-specific scrambling method (block 1407). If aUE-specific scrambling method is being used to scramble the DRSs, thesubscriber station de-scrambles the DRSs according the UE-specificscrambling method (block 1409).

FIG. 15 illustrates a table 1500 depicting two states of a downlink (DL)grant according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in table 1500, the two choices are indicated in the DL grant astwo states, where the first state indicate cell-specific scrambling ofthe DRS sequence and the second state indicate the UE-specificscrambling of the DRS sequence.

There are many ways to construct two codepoints in the DL grant torepresent these two states. In one embodiment, a one-bit field is addedto the DL grant, and this one-bit field is used to indicate these twostates. This embodiment applies to any DCI format that an eNodeB uses tosend the DL grant to the UE.

FIG. 16 illustrates a table 1600 depicting two states of a downlink (DL)grant using a one-bit field according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

In this particular embodiment, a first value of “0” in the one-bit fieldindicates the first state in which cell-specific scrambling of the DRSsequence is used. A second value of “1” in the one-bit field indicatesthe second state in which UE-specific scrambling of the DRS sequence isused.

FIG. 17 illustrates a table 1700 depicting use of the number of enabledtransport blocks (TBs) to indicate the choice of cell-specificscrambling or UE-specific scrambling according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

As shown in table 1700, the number of enabled TBs (1 or 2) in the DLgrant is used to indicate the choice of cell-specific scrambling orUE-specific scrambling. This embodiment is applicable for the DCIformats that can indicate two TBs, for example, the 2A′ DCI formatmentioned above (which is based on 2A). For the case when the DCI formatonly supports 1 TB, the choice of scrambling method is dependent on thetransmission schemes. For example, if the transmit diversity is used,then UE-specific scrambling is adopted. Conversely, if a single-DRS portscheme is used, cell-specific scrambling is adopted.

In this embodiment, please note that 1A′ refers to a slightly modifiedversion of format 1A. Also, current Rel-8 only allows combination ofC-RNTI with Transmit Diversity, and SPS-RNTI with single DRS-porttransmission scheme. However, in Rel-9 and beyond, the other twocombinations (C-RNTI with single DRS-port, and SPS-RNTI with Transmitdiversity) may also be possible.

For the case of DCI format 2A or 2A′, one of ordinary skill in the artwould recognize that the above embodiment can be combined with anymethod of indicating the DRS port index. For the case of DCI format 1Aor 1A′, one of ordinary skill in the art also would recognize that theabove embodiment can be combined with a semi-static indication of theDRS port index such as by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or afixed indication of the DRS port such as by associating the DRS portindex with a UE ID, etc.

In one embodiment of this disclosure, an existing bit in a particular DLgrant is re-interpreted to indicate these two states. This embodiment isalso applicable for the DCI formats that can indicate two TBs, forexample, the 2A′ DCI format mentioned above (which is based on 2A).

In particular, this embodiment provides that if both TB1 and TB2 areenabled, then UE-specific scrambling is always used (to allowtransparent MU-MIMO).

If one of the TBS is disabled, then the codepoints needed to representthe two states (of the scrambling method) is given by reinterpretingeither the NDI bit of the disabled TB or the TB to CW mapping bit (whichis similar to using the two codepoints (states) of the enabled CW indexas depicted in table 1100). Furthermore, if one of the TBs is disabled,the same set of codepoints can also be used to indicate whether the UEshould expect a total rank of 1 (SU-MIMO) or 2 (MU-MIMO with each usersending rank-1).

In addition, for the case where the UE receives a DCI format thatsupports only 1 TB, the treatment is the same as in the aboveembodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates a table 1800 depicting use of an existing bit in aparticular downlink (DL) grant to indicate the choice of cell-specificscrambling or UE-specific scrambling according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

As noted above, the bit to be reinterpreted could be the NDI bit of thedisabled TB, the CW to TB mapping bit, or the two states associated withwhich CW is enabled.

Please note that in table 1800, total rank >1 is a general formula. Inthe case of dual-layer beamforming, total rank is 2.

Again, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that, for thecase of DCI format 2A or 2A′, this embodiment can be combined with anymethod of indicating the DRS port index. For the case of DCI format 1Aor 1A′, one of ordinary skill in the art also would recognize that thisembodiment can be combined with a semi-static indication of the DRS portindex such as by RRC signaling, or a fixed indication of the DRS portsuch by associating the DRS port index with a UE ID, etc.

In another embodiment of this disclosure, the state of the DRSscrambling method is carried semi-statically in higher layer signaling,e.g., RRC signaling.

In one example, the eNodeB would signal a first scrambling method to aUE when the eNodeB intends to use non-transparent MU-MIMO for the UE.The eNodeB would signal a second scrambling method to a UE when theeNodeB intends to use transparent MU-MIMO for the UE.

FIG. 19 illustrates a method 1900 of operating a base station or eNodeBaccording to yet another embodiment of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the choice of the DRS scrambling method isindicated by an eNodeB to a UE using a radio resource control (RRC)message. As shown in FIG. 19, an eNodeB determines if a cell-specific ora UE-specific scrambling method is being used to scramble the DRSs of ascheduled UE (block 1901). If the eNodeB determined that a cell-specificscrambling method is to be used, the eNodeB sends an RRC messageconveying information on the cell-specific scrambling method used by theeNodeB (block 1903), and scrambles the DRSs for the scheduled UE usingthe cell-specific scrambling method (block 1905). If the eNodeBdetermined that a UE-specific scrambling method is to be used, theeNodeB sends an RRC message conveying information on the UE-specificscrambling method used by the eNodeB (block 1907), and scrambles theDRSs for the scheduled UE using the UE-specific scrambling method (block1909). The eNodeB then maps the DRSs and data to the time-frequency mapof a subframe (block 1911), and transmits the data streams along withcorresponding data DRSs to the scheduled UE (block 1913).

FIG. 20 illustrates a method 2000 of operating a subscriber stationaccording to yet another embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 20, a scheduled UE receives an RRC message from a basestation or eNodeB (block 2001). The RRC message conveys information onthe DRS scrambling method used by the eNodeB. The subscriber stationalso receives data streams along with corresponding DRSs (block 2003).The subscriber station reads the information in the RRC message todetermine if a cell-specific or a UE-specific scrambling method is beingused to scramble the DRSs (block 2005). If a cell-specific scramblingmethod is being used to scramble the DRSs, the subscriber stationde-scrambles the DRSs according the cell-specific scrambling method(block 2007). If a UE-specific scrambling method is being used toscramble the DRSs, the subscriber station de-scrambles the DRSsaccording the UE-specific scrambling method (block 2009).

In 3GPP LTE, a procedure is provided for a UE to find its controlmessage (e.g., a transmission grant) in the control channel element(CCE) domain. Each UE is assigned a UE-specific search space in the CCEdomain, and all UEs that establish connection with an eNodeB areassigned a common search space in the CCE domain.

FIG. 21 illustrates a search space composed of a set of consecutive thecontrol channel element (CCEs) according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

Given a search space, a UE attempts to find control messages intendedfor itself by searching throughout the nodes in the tree 2100 shown inFIG. 21, where each node in the tree 2100 corresponds to an aggregationof 1, 2, 4 or 8 CCEs. For example, the node 2101 corresponds to anaggregation of 8 consecutive CCEs whose leaf nodes have contact, i.e.,CCEs 0, 1, . . . 7. Given an aggregation of CCEs, a UE assumes a certainDCI format, extracts information bits in the aggregation, and comparesthe extracted RNTI with the UE's RNTI. Once a UE determines that theextracted RNTI is the same as its RNTI, the UE determines that thedecoded control message is intended to itself.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an eNodeB may send a number of data streamsto a number of UEs, and this operation is called a multi-user MIMO(MU-MIMO) operation. In one transmission mode, an eNodeB is able totransmit up to two streams in a time-frequency resource, and up to twoUEs may receive at least one stream each in the time-frequency resource.In another transmission mode, an eNodeB is able to transmit up to fourstreams in a time-frequency resource, and up to four UEs may receive atleast one stream each in the time-frequency resource.

Since multiple streams are transmitted by an eNodeB, each UE is supposedto identify its stream by a certain means. Once a UE identifies itsstreams, the UE uses dedicated reference signals (DRSs) associated withthe streams to estimate channels for the demodulation of the transmittedstreams. In particular embodiments of this disclosure, it is assumedthat the DRSs for the streams are orthogonal to each other.

For example, for the demodulation of stream #0, a UE estimates channelsusing DRS #0 where DRS #0 is precoded with the same precoder used toprecode the data stream #0. For the demodulation of stream #1, a UEestimates channels using DRS #1 where DRS #1 is precoded with the sameprecoder used to precode the data stream #1. For example, with thereference signal pattern 610 of FIG. 6, the DRS REs for DRS #0 are theRS REs labeled with 0, while the DRS REs for DRS #1 are the RS REslabeled with 1. On the other hand, with the reference signal pattern 620of FIG. 6, the DRS #0 is multiplexed with DRS #1 in the same set ofpairs of RS REs, and a Walsh code [1 1] is used for DRS #0, while aWalsh code [1-1] is used for DRS #1.

In order to support MU-MIMO, an eNodeB determines a transmission modefor UEs by higher-layer signaling. A few transmission modes areconsidered in this disclosure. In one transmission mode (denoted bytransmission mode A), a UE can receive up to two streams and up to twoDRSs associated with the two streams, and an eNodeB can schedule up totwo data streams and up to two DRSs at most to a number of UEs in a unitof time-frequency resource. UEs in this transmission mode are aware thatthe DRS REs for the two DRSs do not carry data symbols for themselves.

In another transmission mode (denoted by transmission mode B), a UE canreceive up to two streams and up to two DRSs associated with the twostreams, and an eNodeB can schedule up to four data streams and up tofour DRSs to a number of UEs in a unit of time-frequency resource. UEsin this transmission mode are aware that the DRS REs for the four DRSsdo not carry data symbols for themselves.

In another transmission mode (denoted by transmission mode C), a UE canreceive up to two streams and up to two DRSs associated with the twostreams, and an eNodeB can schedule up to four data streams and up tofour DRSs to a number of UEs in a unit of time-frequency resource, justas in transmission mode B. The difference between transmission mode Cand transmission mode B is that each UE in transmission mode C receivesan indication from eNodeB as to which DRSs are allocated to the UE andother UEs in the assigned resources and thus is aware of the exactposition of DRS REs that do not carry data symbols.

In another transmission mode (denoted by transmission mode D), a UE canreceive up to four streams and up to four DRSs associated with the fourstreams, and an eNodeB can schedule up to four data streams and up tofour DRSs to a number of UEs in a unit of time-frequency resource. Inthis transmission mode, each UE receives an indication from the eNodeBas to which DRSs are allocated to the UE and thus is aware that the DRSREs for the four DRSs do not carry data symbols for themselves.

This disclosure provides different ways for an eNodeB to indicate theset of streams assigned to a UE in various transmission modes.

In a given transmission mode and given an indication of the stream andDRS indices, a UE demodulates its data streams by estimating thechannels associated with the streams using the associated DRSs. Streamor DRS indices together with the restrictions made in a transmissionmode let the UE know where to find DRS symbols and data symbols in thetime-frequency map. For example, when FDM/TDM pilots in FIG. 6 are usedfor a UE in transmission mode A, a UE finds the DRS symbols and datasymbols as illustrated in FIG. 8 based on the DRS index signaled toitself.

In a first part of this disclosure, UEs in transmission mode A will beconsidered. In transmission mode A, a UE can receive up to two streamsand up to two DRSs associated with the two streams, and an eNodeB canschedule up to two data streams and up to two DRSs at most to a numberof UEs in a unit of time-frequency resource. The UE's behavior when astream index is signaled can be described as shown in FIG. 8, in thecase of FDM/TDM pilots, for example. For UEs in transmission mode A,four methods of indicating the stream index are provided.

In one embodiment of this disclosure (denoted by method A-1), the streamindex for a UE is linked with the UE-ID number, for example, the RNTInumber in 3GPP LTE.

In one transmission instance (denoted by transmission instance A-1-1),an eNodeB schedules two UEs with different even-odd parity of UE-IDnumbers in a time-frequency resource and transmits two streams, stream#0 and stream #1. Here, stream #0 and DRS #0 are intended to a UE withan even UE-ID, while stream #1 and DRS #1 are intended to a UE with anodd UE-ID.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-1-2), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1 to the UE.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-1-3), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits one stream, either stream #0 or stream #1 to the UE, dependingon the parity of the UE's ID number.

FIG. 22 illustrates a method 2200 of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a first embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 22, an eNodeB pairs two UEs (UE#0 and UE#1) for atime-frequency resource (block 2201). The two UEs have UE-IDs withdifferent even-odd parity. The eNodeB then precodes the data stream andthe associated DMRS for each of the two UEs (block 2203). The eNodeBmaps the DMRS in REs for DRS #0 for UE#0 and maps the DMRS in REs forDRS #1 for UE#1 (block 2205). The eNodeB also maps the combination ofthe two precoded signals for the two UEs in the data REs (block 2207).The eNodeB then transmits downlink transmission grant(s) assigning thetime-frequency resource to the two UEs (block 2209) and transmits thesignals in the time-frequency resource to the two UEs (block 2211).

In the transmission instance A-1-1, a UE with an even UE-ID (UE#0)estimates the channels using the received signals in the REs for DRS#0,while the other UE with an odd UE-ID (UE#1) estimates the channels usingthe received signals in the REs for DRS#1. These estimated channels areused for demodulation of the data stream at each UE.

FIG. 23 illustrates a method 2300 of operating a UE or subscriberstation according to a first embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 23, a UE receives a transmission grant and a set ofsignals in a time-frequency resource assigned by the transmission grantfrom an eNodeB (block 2301). The UE then determines if the UE's UE-ID iseven (block 2303). If the UE's UE-ID is even, the UE extracts signalsfrom the REs for DRS#0 (block 2305). If the UE's UE-ID is not even, theUE extracts signals from the REs for DRS#1 (block 2307). The UE thenestimates the channels in the assigned time-frequency resource using theextracted signals (block 2309). The UE also demodulates the intendeddata stream in the assigned time-frequency resource using the estimatedchannels (block 2311).

In transmission instance A-1-2, a UE estimates two channels using thereceived signals in the REs for both DRS#0 and DRS#1. The two estimatedchannels are used for the demodulation of the two data streams at theUE.

In transmission instance A-1-3, a UE estimates one channel using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0 if its UE-ID is even, and uses thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#1 if its UE-ID is odd.

In another embodiment of this disclosure (denoted by method A-2), thestream index for a UE is linked with the parity of a control channelelement (CCE) number, where the CCE number is one logical index of theCCEs that have carried downlink grant for the UE.

In one transmission instance (denoted by transmission instance A-2-1),an eNodeB schedules two UEs UE#0 and UE#1 in a time-frequency resourceand transmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1. In this particularinstance, stream #0 and DRS #0 are intended for UE#0, while stream #1and DRS #1 are intended for UE#1. The eNodeB sends a transmission grantto UE#0 in a set of consecutive CCEs, where the index of the first CCEis even. On the other hand, the eNodeB sends a transmission grant in aset of consecutive CCEs to UE#1, where the index of the first CCE isodd.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-2-2), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1, to the UE.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-2-3), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits one stream, either stream #0 or stream #1, to the UE. Whenstream #0 is to be sent to the UE, the eNodeB sends a transmission grantin a set of consecutive CCEs, where the index of the first CCE is even.When stream #1 is to be sent to the UE, the eNodeB sends a transmissiongrant in a set of consecutive CCEs, where the index of the first CCE isodd.

FIG. 24 illustrates a method 2400 of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a second embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 24, an eNodeB pairs two UEs (UE#0 and UE#1) for atime-frequency resource (block 2401). The eNodeB then precodes the datastream and the associated DMRS for each of the two UEs (block 2403). Insome embodiments, the precoders used for the two UEs can be differentfrom one another. The eNodeB maps the DMRS in REs for DRS #0 for UE#0and maps the DMRS in REs for DRS #1 for UE#1 (block 2405). The eNodeBalso maps the combination of the two precoded signals for the two UEs inthe data REs (block 2407). The eNodeB then transmits downlinktransmission grant(s) to UE#0 in a set of consecutive CCEs starting atan even index and transmits downlink transmission grant(s) to UE#1 in aset of consecutive CCEs starting at an odd index (block 2409). TheeNodeB then transmits the signals in the time-frequency resource to thetwo UEs (block 2411).

In transmission instance A-2-1, a UE that has received a downlink grantstarting at an even CCE estimates the channels using the receivedsignals in the REs for DRS#0, while another UE that has received thedownlink grant starting at an odd index estimates the channels using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#1. These estimated channels are usedfor the demodulation of the data stream at each UE.

FIG. 25 illustrates a method 2500 of operating a UE or subscriberstation according to a second embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 25, a UE receives a transmission grant and a set ofsignals in a time-frequency resource assigned by the transmission grantfrom an eNodeB (block 2501). The UE then determines if the first CCEnumber that carried the transmission grant is even (block 2503). If thefirst CCE number that carried the transmission grant is even, the UEextracts signals from the REs for DRS#0 (block 2505). If the first CCEnumber that carried the transmission grant is not even, the UE extractssignals from the REs for DRS#1 (block 2507). The UE then estimates thechannels in the assigned time-frequency resource using the extractedsignals (block 2509). The UE also demodulates the intended data streamin the assigned time-frequency resource using the estimated channels(block 2511).

In transmission instance A-2-2, a UE estimates two channels using thereceived signals in the REs for both DRS#0 and DRS#1. The two estimatedchannels are used for the demodulation of the two data streams at theUE.

In transmission instance A-2-3, a UE estimates one channel using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0 if the UE has received downlinkgrant in the CCEs starting at an even index, in the REs for DRS#1 if theUE has received downlink grant in the CCEs starting at an odd index.

In another embodiment of this disclosure (denoted by method A-3), thestream index for a UE is linked with the location of the control channelelement (CCE) resources in the CCE tree search space, where the CCEresources carry the downlink grant for the UE.

FIG. 26 illustrates a linkage between a location of a control channelelement (CCE) aggregation and a stream (or DRS) ID according to anembodiment of this disclosure.

In one transmission instance (denoted by transmission instance A-3-1),an eNodeB schedules two UEs UE#0 and UE#1 in a time-frequency resourceand transmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1. In this instance,stream #0 and DRS #0 are intended for UE#0, while stream #1 and DRS #1are intended for UE#1. The eNodeB sends a transmission grant to UE#0 inan aggregation of 1, 2 or 4 CCEs, where the aggregation 2601 isallocated on the left hand side of the tree in the UE-specific searchspace of UE#0. On the other hand, the eNodeB sends a transmission grantto UE#1 in an aggregation of 1, 2 or 4 CCEs, where the aggregation 2603is allocated on the right hand side of the tree in the UE-specificsearch space of UE#1.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-3-2), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1, to the UE.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-3-3), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits one stream, either stream #0 or stream #1, to the UE. Whenstream #0 is to be sent to the UE, the eNodeB sends a transmission grantin an aggregation of 1, 2 or 4 CCEs, where the aggregation is allocatedon the left hand side of the tree in the UE-specific search space of theUE. When stream #1 is to be sent to the UE, the eNodeB sends atransmission grant in an aggregation of 1, 2 or 4 CCEs, where theaggregation is allocated on the right hand side of the tree in theUE-specific search space of the UE.

FIG. 27 illustrates a method 2700 of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a third embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 27, an eNodeB pairs two UEs (UE#0 and UE#1) for atime-frequency resource (block 2701). The eNodeB then precodes the datastream and the associated DMRS for each of the two UEs (block 2703). Insome embodiments, the precoders used for the two UEs can be differentfrom one another. The eNodeB maps the DMRS in REs for DRS #0 for UE#0and maps the DMRS in REs for DRS #1 for UE#1 (block 2705). The eNodeBalso maps the combination of the two precoded signals for the two UEs inthe data REs (block 2707). The eNodeB then transmits a transmissiongrant to UE#0 in an aggregation of 1, 2 or 4 CCEs, where the aggregationis allocated on the left hand side of the tree in the UE-specific searchspace and transmits a transmission grant to UE#1 in an aggregation of 1,2 or 4 CCEs, where the aggregation is allocated on the right hand sideof the tree in the UE-specific search space (block 2709). The eNodeBthen transmits the signals in the time-frequency resource to the two UEs(block 2711).

In transmission instance A-3-1, a UE that has received a downlink grantin a CCE aggregation that is located in the left hand side of the treein the UE-specific search space estimates the channels using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0, while another UE that hasreceived a downlink grant in a CCE aggregation that is located in theright hand side of the tree in the UE-specific search space estimatesthe channels using the received signals in the REs for DRS#1. Theseestimated channels are used for the demodulation of the data stream ateach UE.

FIG. 28 illustrates a method 2800 of operating a UE or subscriberstation according to a third embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 28, a UE receives a transmission grant and a set ofsignals in a time-frequency resource assigned by the transmission grantfrom an eNodeB (block 2801). The UE then determines if the transmissiongrant is carried in a CCE aggregation that is located in the left handside of the tree in the UE-specific search space (block 2803). If thetransmission grant is carried in a CCE aggregation that is located inthe left hand side of the tree in the UE-specific search space, the UEextracts signals from the REs for DRS#0 (block 2805). If thetransmission grant is carried in a CCE aggregation that is located inthe right hand side of the tree in the UE-specific search space, the UEextracts signals from the REs for DRS#1 (block 2807). The UE thenestimates the channels in the assigned time-frequency resource using theextracted signals (block 2809). The UE also demodulates the intendeddata stream in the assigned time-frequency resource using the estimatedchannels (block 2811).

In transmission instance A-3-2, a UE estimates two channels using thereceived signals in the REs for both DRS#0 and DRS#1. The two estimatedchannels are used for the demodulation of the two data streams at theUE.

In transmission instance A-3-3, a UE estimates one channel using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0 if the UE has received thedownlink grant in a CCE aggregation that is located in the left handside of the tree in the UE-specific search space, and uses the receivedsignals in the REs for DRS#1 if the UE has received a downlink grant ina CCE aggregation that is located in the right hand side of the tree inthe UE-specific search space.

In another embodiment of this disclosure (denoted by method A-4), thestream index and associated DRS index for a UE is implicitly indicatedwith the enabled codeword index in the downlink grant.

FIG. 29 illustrates downlink (DL) formats according to embodiments ofthis disclosure.

If DCI format 2A is used for the downlink grants for the two UEs, thetwo downlink grants may look like format 2901 if TB1 of UE#0 and TB1 ofUE#1 are enabled. In the DL grant for UE#0, the TB-to-CW swap bit is 0,so that TB1 for UE#0 is mapped to CW0, and TB2 is disabled by settingMCS2 to be 0 and RV2 to be 1 as shown in format 2903. In the DL grantfor UE#1, the TB-to-CW swap bit is 1, so that TB1 for UE#0 is mapped toCW1, and TB2 is disabled by setting MCS2 to be 0 and RV2 to be 1 asshown in format 2905.

The assigned DRS (stream) indices and the enabled CWs when different TBsare enabled and different values are assigned in TB-to-CW swap bits aresummarized as illustrated in table 1100 of FIG. 11. In this particularembodiment, the fourth column (the assigned DRS indices) of table 1100is determined based on the values in the first three columns.

In a particular embodiment, the CW-to-layer mapping for the 1CWtransmission case is modified such that, if the number of layers is 1and the number of CWs is 1, thenx ⁽⁰⁾(i)=d ^((n) ^(—) ^(cw))(i), andM _(symb) ^(layer) =M _(symb) ^((n) ^(—) ^(cw))

where n_cw is the enabled CW index, i=0, 1, . . . , M_(symb) ^(layer)−1and M_(symb) ^(layer)=M_(symb) ^((n) ^(—) ^(cw)) is the number ofmodulation symbols in the enabled CW.

In one transmission instance (denoted by transmission instance A-4-1),an eNodeB schedules two UEs (UE#0 and UE#1) in a time-frequency resourceand transmits two TBS (or two streams), one TB for each UE. The eNodeBconstruct a transmission grant in such a way that UE#0's TB1 or TB2 ismapped to codeword (CW) #0 for UE#0, and that UE#1's TB1 or TB2 ismapped to codeword (CW) #1. For each UE, the eNodeB enables one TBmapped to a CW, and disables the other TB. In this particular instance,CW#0 and CW#1 corresponds to stream #0 and stream #1, respectively.

FIG. 30 illustrates a method 3000 of operating an eNodeB or base stationaccording to a fourth embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 30, an eNodeB pairs two UEs (UE#0 and UE#1) for atime-frequency resource (block 3001). The eNodeB receives TB#1 for UE#0and TB#1 for UE#1 from a higher layer (block 3003). The eNodeB then mapsCW#0 to layer #0 and maps CW#1 to layer #1 (block 3005). The eNodeB alsoprecodes the data stream and the associated DMRS for UE#0 (layer #0) andUE#1 (layer #1) (block 3007). The eNodeB then maps the DMRS in REs forDRS #0 for UE#0 and maps the DMRS in REs for DRS #1 for UE#1 (block3009). The eNodeB also maps the combination of the two precoded signalsfor the two UEs in the data REs (block 3011). The eNodeB then disablesTB#2 and clears the TB-to-CW swap bit in the DL grant for UE#0, anddisables TB#2 and sets the TB-to-CW swap bit in the DL grant for UE#1(block 3013). The eNodeB then transmits the two DL grants and datasignals to the two UEs (block 3015).

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-4-2), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits two streams, stream #0 and stream #1, to the UE.

In another transmission instance (denoted by transmission instanceA-4-3), an eNodeB schedules only one UE in a time-frequency resource andtransmits one stream, either stream #0 or stream #1, to the UE. Whenstream #0 is to be sent to the UE, the eNodeB sends a transmission grantwith CW#0 enabled and TB1# mapped to CW#0. When stream #1 is to be sentto the UE, the eNodeB sends a transmission grant with CW#1 enabled andTB#1 mapped to CW#1.

In transmission instance A-4-1, a UE that has received a downlink grantin a CCE aggregation that is located in the left hand side of the treein the UE-specific search space estimates the channels using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0, while another UE that hasreceived a downlink grant in a CCE aggregation that is located in theright hand side of the tree in the UE-specific search space estimatesthe channels using the received signals in the REs for DRS#1. Theseestimated channels are used for the demodulation of the data stream ateach UE.

FIG. 31 illustrates a method 3100 of operating a UE or subscriberstation according to a fourth embodiment of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 31, a UE receives a transmission grant and a set ofsignals in a time-frequency resource assigned by the transmission grantfrom an eNodeB (block 3101). The UE then determines if the CW#0 in thetransmission grant is enabled (block 3103). If the CW#0 in thetransmission grant is enabled, the UE extracts signals from the REs forDRS#0 (block 3105). If the CW#1 in the transmission grant is enabled,the UE extracts signals from the REs for DRS#1 (block 3107). The UE thenestimates the channels in the assigned time-frequency resource using theextracted signals (block 3109). The UE also demodulates the intendeddata stream in the assigned time-frequency resource using the estimatedchannels (block 3111). The UE also determines if the TB-to-CW swap flagin the transmission grant is set (block 3113). If the TB-to-CW swap flagin the transmission grant is set, the UE determines that CW#0corresponds to TB#2 and CW#1 corresponds to TB#1 (block 3115). If theTB-to-CW swap flag in the transmission grant is not set, the UEdetermines that CW#0 corresponds to TB#1 and CW41 corresponds to TB#2(block 3117).

In transmission instance A-4-2, a UE estimates two channels using thereceived signals in the REs for both DRS#0 and DRS#1. The two estimatedchannels are used for the demodulation of the two data streams at theUE.

In transmission instance A-4-3, a UE estimates one channel using thereceived signals in the REs for DRS#0 if the UE has received a downlinkgrant indicating that only CW#0 is enabled, and uses the receivedsignals in the REs for DRS#1 if the UE has received a downlink grantindicating that only CW#1 is enabled.

In methods A-1, A-2, A-3 and A-4, the estimated channels are used forthe demodulation of the data stream at each UE. UE#0 (UE#1) may alsoestimate channels using the received signals in REs for DRS#1 (DRS#0) aswell to figure out the statistics of the interfering signal. Once UE#0(UE#1) figures out the statistics of the interfering signal, the UE mayuse the information to further improve the demodulation performance.UE#0 (UE#1) may implement a minimum-mean squared error (MMSE) estimatorutilizing the two channel statistics for the demodulation.

In a second part of this disclosure, UEs in transmission mode B areconsidered. In transmission mode B, a UE can receive up to two streamsand up to two DRSs associated with the two streams, and an eNodeB canschedule up to four data streams and up to four DRSs to a number of UEsin a unit of time-frequency resource. In this transmission mode, UEs areaware that the DRS REs for the four DRSs do not carry data symbols forthemselves. In a particular embodiment, a type of RS pattern, such asthe reference signal pattern 620 of FIG. 6, is considered. In this typeof RS pattern, one set of DRS REs are reserved for streams 0 and 1,while another set of distinct DRS REs are reserved for streams 2 and 3.The first and the second set of DRS REs are referred to as DRS RE set 0and DRS RE set 1, respectively.

FIG. 32 illustrates a table 3200 used to indicate a number of streamsaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure.

In the following embodiments, methods of indicating at most two stream(and corresponding DRS) indices to a UE by an eNodeB by conveyinginformation on the DRS RE set and the stream indices within the set inthe downlink grant are disclosed. In such embodiments, the eNodeB mayindicate up to six different sets of stream indices, as summarized intable 3200.

FIG. 33 illustrates the use of a DRS set indicator flag to indicate aDRS RE set index according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

In one embodiment of this disclosure, an additional field, the DRS setindicator flag, is added to the downlink grant to indicate the DRS REset index (or I_set), so that a UE receiving the DL grant identifies theDRS REs intended for itself and uses the DRS REs to estimate thechannels for the demodulation of the assigned streams. The DRS setindicator flag identifies the DRS RE set. For example, as shown in FIG.33, when DRS set indicator flag is 0, the DRS RE set 0 is selected. WhenDRS set indicator flag is 1, the DRS RE set 1 is selected. FIG. 33illustrates the implication of a bit value in the DRS set indicator flagwhen the CDM/FDM pattern of the reference signal pattern 620 of FIG. 6is used as a DRS pattern.

When the DRS set indicator flag is carried in the DL grant, the streamindex within the set (I_stream_set) can be conveyed either explicitly byadditional bit field, or implicitly by using the method A-4.

FIG. 34 illustrates a DCI format according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure.

In this embodiment, a new DCI format 3400 adds two additional fields toformat 1A: a 1-bit DRS set indicator flag 3401 used to determine I_set,and a 1-bit stream indicator field 3403 used to indicate the streamindex within the set, or I_stream_set.

In a particular embodiment, an eNodeB can indicate one stream index inthe downlink grant, 0, 1, 2 or 3, as shown in table 3200.

FIG. 35 illustrates a DCI format according to another embodiment of thisdisclosure.

In this embodiment, a new DCI format 3500 adds an additional field toDCI format 2A, a 1-bit DRS set indicator flag 3501. When the DRS setindicator flag 3501 is set to 0, this implies that the UE will receivethe DRS in DRS RE set 0. When the DRS set indicator flag 3501 is set to1, this implies that the UE will receive the DRS in DRS RE set 1.

FIG. 36 illustrates a table 3600 used to map assigned DRSs or streamindices according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

When method A-4 is used together with DCI format 3500, up to two DRS (orstream) indices in the selected set may be indicated by the 1-bit DRSset indicator flag. Table 3600 lists the mapping from the possiblecombinations of the values of the enabled CWs and the DRS set indicatorflag to the assigned DRSs or stream indices.

In a third part of this disclosure, UEs in transmission mode C will beconsidered. In transmission mode C, a UE can receive up to two streamsand up to two DRSs associated with the two streams, and an eNodeB canschedule up to four data streams and up to four DRSs to a number of UEsin a unit of time-frequency resource, just as in transmission mode B.The difference between transmission mode C and transmission mode B isthat each UE in transmission mode C receives an indication from aneNodeB as to which DRSs are allocated for the UE and other UEs in theassigned resources and thus is aware of the exact position of DRS REsthat do not carry data symbols. In a type of RS pattern such as thatshown in the reference signal pattern 620 of FIG. 6, one set of DRS REsare reserved for streams 0 and 1, while another set of distinct DRS REsare reserved for streams 2 and 3. The first and the second set of DRSREs are referred to as DRS RE set 0 and DRS RE set 1, respectively.

In an embodiment of this disclosure, a method and system of indicating aset of at most two stream (and corresponding DRS) indices by an eNodeBto a UE and indicating whether the other set of DRS REs contains datasymbols for the UE or not is provided.

In one embodiment of this disclosure, a method and system for an eNodeBnot only to indicate at most two stream (and corresponding DRS) indicesto a UE by conveying information on the DRS RE set and the streamindices within the set in the downlink grant, but also to indicatewhether the other set of DRS REs are carrying data or not by specifyingthe number of DRS RE sets (N_set).

FIG. 37 illustrates a use of bit values in the DRS set indicator flagand DRS set number flag according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

In a particular embodiment, two additional fields, the DRS set indicatorflag (I_set) and the set number field (N_set), are added to the downlinkgrant to indicate the DRS set index.

Upon receiving the DRS set indicator flag, a UE identifies the DRS REsintended for itself and uses the DRS REs to estimate the channels forthe demodulation of the assigned streams. Upon receiving the set numberflag, a UE is informed as to whether data symbols are in the other DRSRE set or not. The DRS set indicator flag identifies the DRS RE set. Forexample, when DRS set indicator flag is 0, the DRS RE set 0 is selected;when DRS set indicator flag is 1, the DRS RE set 1 is selected. On theother hand, the set number field identifies the number of DRS RE sets.For example, if the set number flag is 0, then the number of DRS RE setsis one. In this case, the UE can receive data symbols in the REs in theother DRS RE set which the UE does not receive DRSs. If the set numberflag is 1, then the number of DRS RE sets is two. In this case, the UEdoes not expect to receive data symbols in the REs in the other DRS REset which the UE does not receive DRSs. FIG. 37 illustrates theimplication of bit values in the DRS set indicator flag and DRS setnumber flag when the reference signal pattern 620 of FIG. 6, forexample, is used as a DRS pattern.

FIG. 38 illustrates a DCI format according to a further embodiment ofthis disclosure.

In this embodiment, a new DCI format 3800 adds three additional fieldsto format 1A: a 1-bit DRS set indicator flag 3801 used to determinei_set, a one-bit stream indicator field 3803 used to indicate the streamindex within the set, or I_stream_set, and a one-bit DRS set numberfield 3805 used to indicate whether the other set of DRS REs carry dataor not. In this embodiment, an eNodeB can indicate one stream index inthe downlink grant, 0, 1, 2 or 3 as shown table 3200, and indicatewhether the other set of DRS REs carry data or not as shown in FIG. 37.

FIG. 39 illustrates a DCI format according to a yet another embodimentof this disclosure.

In this embodiment, a new DCI format 3900 adds two additional fields toDCI format 2A: a 1-bit DRS set indicator flag 3901 and a 1-bit DRS setnumber field 3903. When the DRS set indicator flag is 0, this impliesthat the UE will receive the DRS in DRS RE set 0. When the DRS setindicator flag is 1, this implies that the UE will receive the DRS inDRS RE set 1.

In a fourth part of this disclosure, UEs in transmission mode D will beconsidered. In transmission mode D, a UE can receive up to four streamsand up to four DRSs associated with the four streams, and an eNodeB canschedule up to four data streams and up to four DRSs to a number of UEsin a unit of time-frequency resource. In this transmission mode, each UEreceives an indication from an eNodeB as to which DRSs are allocated forthe UE and thus is aware that the DRS REs for the four DRSs do not carrydata symbols for themselves.

In another embodiment, a system and method of indicating a set of stream(and corresponding DRS) indices to a UE by an eNodeB is disclosed.

FIG. 40 illustrates a DCI format according to a yet further embodimentof this disclosure.

In this embodiment, an additional field, the DRS allocation bitmap, isadded to the downlink grant to indicate the assigned DRS indices, sothat a UE receiving the DL grant can identify the DRS REs intended foritself and use the DRS REs to estimate the channels for the demodulationof the assigned streams. The number of bits in the DRS allocation bitmapis the same as the total number of streams that can be multiplexed in atime-frequency resource. If a bit in the i-th position in the DRSallocation bitmap is 0 in a DL grant for a UE, this implies that streami−1 and DRS i−1 are transmitted to the UE. Otherwise, stream i−1 and DRSi−1 are not transmitted to the UE. For example, when DRS allocationbitmap is [0 1 0 1], streams (and DRSs) 1 and 3 are allocated to the UE,while streams (and DRSs) 0 and 2 are not allocated to the UE.

In one example, the DRS allocation bitmap field has four bits, whereeach bit indicates whether a corresponding stream and DRS is allocatedfor a UE receiving the DL grant. The new DCI format 4000 has anadditional field, a 4-bit DRS allocation bitmap 4001, to DCI format 2A.

FIG. 41 illustrates a table 4100 used to map assigned DRSs or streamindices according to another embodiment of this disclosure.

In this embodiment, an additional field is added to DCI format 2A. A DRSallocation map is added to the downlink grant. The DRS allocation maptogether with the enabled CWs indicates the assigned DRS indices, sothat a UE receiving the DL grant identifies the DRS REs intended foritself and uses the DRS REs to estimate the channels for thedemodulation of the assigned streams. Table 4100 illustrates one exampleof method A-4 being used with a 3-bit DRS allocation map field.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A base station comprising: a transmit path circuitry configured to:scramble cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format using a cell radio network temporary identifier(C-RNTI) for dynamic scheduling, and scramble the CRC bits of the DCIformat using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI forsemi-persistent scheduling; if C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits,generate a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being afallback format to indicate a transmit diversity scheme or asingle-layer beamforming scheme, and transmit the downlink transmissiongrant in a common or user equipment-specific search space of a controlchannel (CCE) domain, and generate a downlink transmission grant usingthe DCI format being a dual-layer beamforming format to indicate adual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) port transmission scheme or asingle-DRS port transmission scheme, and transmit the downlinktransmission grant in a user equipment-specific search space of the CCEdomain; and if SPS C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits, generate adownlink transmission grant using the DCI format being the fallbackformat to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, and transmitthe downlink transmission grant in a common or user equipment-specificsearch space of the CCE domain, and generate a downlink transmissiongrant using the DCI format being the dual-layer beamforming format toindicate a dual-DRS port transmission scheme or a single-DRS porttransmission scheme, and transmit the downlink transmission grant in auser equipment-specific search space of the CCE domain.
 2. A basestation in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fallback format isfurther defined as DCI format 1A according to 3^(rd) GenerationPartnership Project (3GGP) standards.
 3. A base station in accordancewith claim 1 wherein the dual-layer beamforming format is furtherdefined a modified DCI format 2A according to 3^(rd) GenerationPartnership Project (3GGP) standards.
 4. A base station in accordancewith claim 1 wherein if the dual-layer beamforming format is used toindicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, the base station isfurther configured to generate a value in a new data indicator field ofthe dual-layer beamforming format that corresponds to a DRS port indexof an enabled transport block in the downlink transmission grant.
 5. Abase station in accordance with claim 1 wherein if the dual-layerbeamforming format is used to indicate a single-DRS port transmissionscheme, the base station is further configured to generate a value in anew data indicator field of the dual-layer beamforming format thatcorresponds to a DRS port index of an enabled codeword in the downlinktransmission grant.
 6. A method of operating a base station, the methodcomprising: scrambling cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of a downlinkcontrol information (DCI) format using a cell radio network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI) for dynamic scheduling, and scrambling the CRC bitsof the DCI format using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI forsemi-persistent scheduling; if C-RNTI is used to scramble the CRC bits,generating a downlink transmission grant using the DCI format being afallback format to indicate a transmit diversity transmission scheme ora single-layer beamforming scheme, and transmitting the downlinktransmission grant in a common or user equipment-specific search spaceof a control channel (CCE) domain, and generating a downlinktransmission grant using the DCI format being a dual-layer beamformingformat to indicate a dual-dedicated reference signal (DRS) porttransmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain; and if SPS C-RNTI isused to scramble the CRC bits, generating a downlink transmission grantusing the DCI format being the fallback format to indicate a single-DRSport transmission scheme, and transmitting the downlink transmissiongrant in a common or user equipment-specific search space of the CCEdomain, and generating a downlink transmission grant using the DCIformat being the dual-layer beamforming format to indicate a dual-DRSport transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme, andtransmitting the downlink transmission grant in a userequipment-specific search space of the CCE domain.
 7. A method inaccordance with claim 6 wherein the fallback format is further definedas DCI format 1A according to 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project(3GGP) standards.
 8. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein thedual-layer beamforming format is further defined a modified DCI format2A according to 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GGP) standards.9. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein if the dual-layerbeamforming format is used to indicate a single-DRS port transmissionscheme, the method further comprises generating a value in a new dataindicator field of the dual-layer beamforming format that corresponds toa DRS port index of an enabled transport block in the downlinktransmission grant.
 10. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein ifthe dual-layer beamforming format is used to indicate a single-DRS porttransmission scheme, the method further comprises generating a value ina new data indicator field of the dual-layer beamforming format thatcorresponds to a DRS port index of an enabled codeword in the downlinktransmission grant.
 11. A subscriber station comprising: a receive pathcircuitry configured to: receive a downlink transmission grant from abase station; de-scramble cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of thedownlink transmission grant using a cell radio network temporaryidentifier (C-RNTI) key, and de-scramble the CRC bits of the downlinktransmission grant using a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key;if the C-RNTI key successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, determine ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a downlink control information(DCI) format being a fallback format or a dual-layer beamforming format;if the downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thefallback format, determine that a transmit diversity transmission schemeor a single-layer beamforming scheme is used by the base station, and ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thedual-layer beamforming format, determine that a dual-dedicated referencesignal (DRS) port transmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmissionscheme is used by the base station; and if the SPS C-RNTI keysuccessfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, determine if the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the fallback format orthe dual-layer beamforming format; if the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, determine that asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station, and ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thedual-layer beamforming format, determine that a dual-DRS porttransmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme is used bythe base station.
 12. A subscriber station in accordance with claim 11wherein the fallback format is further defined as DCI format 1Aaccording to 3^(rd) Generation. Partnership Project (3GGP) standards.13. A subscriber station in accordance with claim 11 wherein thedual-layer beamforming format is further defined a modified DCI format2A according to 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GGP) standards.14. A subscriber station in accordance with claim 11 wherein if thedual-layer beamforming format is used to indicate a single-DRS porttransmission scheme, the subscriber station is further configured todetermine a DRS port index of an enabled transport block in the downlinktransmission grant using a value in a new data indicator field of thedual-layer beamforming format.
 15. A subscriber station in accordancewith claim 11 wherein if the dual-layer beamforming format is used toindicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, the subscriber stationis further configured to determine a DRS port index of an enabledcodeword in the downlink transmission grant using a value in a new dataindicator field of the dual-layer beamforming format.
 16. A method ofoperating a subscriber station, the method comprising: receiving adownlink transmission grant from a base station; de-scrambling cyclicredundancy check (CRC) bits of the downlink transmission grant using acell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) key, and de-scramblingthe CRC bits of the downlink transmission grant using a semi-persistentscheduling (SPS) C-RNTI key; if the C-RNTI key successfully de-scramblesthe CRC bits, determining if the downlink transmission grant utilizes adownlink control information (DCI) format being a fallback format or adual-layer beamforming format; if the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, determining that atransmit diversity transmission scheme or a single-layer beamformingscheme is used by the base station, and if the downlink transmissiongrant utilizes a downlink control information (DCI) format being thedual-layer beamforming format, determining that a dual-dedicatedreference signal (DRS) port transmission scheme or a single-DRS porttransmission scheme is used by the base station; and if the SPS C-RNTIkey successfully de-scrambles the CRC bits, determining if the downlinktransmission grant utilizes a DCI format being the fallback format orthe dual-layer beamforming format; if the downlink transmission grantutilizes a DCI format being the fallback format, determining that asingle-DRS port transmission scheme is used by the base station, and ifthe downlink transmission grant utilizes a DCI format being thedual-layer beamforming format, determining that a dual-DRS porttransmission scheme or a single-DRS port transmission scheme is used bythe base station.
 17. A method in accordance with claim 16 wherein thefallback format is further defined as DCI format 1A according to 3^(rd)Generation Partnership Project (3GGP) standards.
 18. A method inaccordance with claim 16 wherein the dual-layer beamforming format isfurther defined as a modified DCI format 2A according to 3^(rd)Generation Partnership Project (3GGP) standards.
 19. A method inaccordance with claim 16 wherein if the dual-layer beamforming format isused, to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, the methodfurther comprises determining a DRS port index of an enabled transportblock in the downlink transmission grant using a value in a new dataindicator field of the dual-layer beamforming format.
 20. A method inaccordance with claim 16 wherein if the dual-layer beamforming format isused to indicate a single-DRS port transmission scheme, the methodfurther comprises determining a DRS port index of an enabled codeword inthe downlink transmission grant using a value in a new data indicatorfield of the dual-layer beamforming format.